The First Democracies

The First Democracies The ancient Greeks and Romans were the first civilizations in history to create governments based on democracy The word democracy means the people rule The Greek city-state of Athens was the first civilization to a democratic system of government The system used in Athens was called a direct democracy The citizens met in a large assembly, discussed issues, and voted directly on proposed laws To cast a vote on a proposal, citizens dropped either a white or a black pebble into a vase The side with the most votes won In Rome, a somewhat different form of democracy developed The Roman Republic used the system of indirect democracy Citizens elected representatives who made laws on their behalf Indirect democracy is most often called representative government A country using this type of democracy is called a republic The word republic means the government is based on the people That s why we call the United States a republic Americans elect representatives who make the laws on their behalf The democracy in Athens grew, but eventually fell Roman power spread widely, but it eventually became controlled by emperors, not the people The early leaders of the United States knew the history of Greece and Rome Their hope was the America would revive democracy as a workable system They favored the Roman Republic as a model, with elected representatives, rather than the kind of direct democracy used in ancient Athens The US Constitution, written in 1787, sets up the American government as a republic The leaders who wrote the Constitution did not just copy the ancient Roman system, however They created rules in the Constitution that they hoped would limit the power of government, and better protect the rights of citizens

The Magna Carta: A Foundation for Liberty Long before the English ever set foot in America Even before Columbus sailed from Spain to the New World A remarkable document was written in England that is a vital part of the story of freedom Magna Carta is Latin for Great Charter English barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta because they were tired of the way he abused his power Barons were very high ranking noblemen in those days, higher even than knights! So, what did the Magna Carta actually say? The city of London shall enjoy all of its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water We also will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy their customs liberties and free No man shall be seized or put in prison, or stripped of his rights or possessions except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice All merchants may enter or leave England unharmed for purpose of trade, free from all illegal fees or payments The Magna Carta put but had to follow limits on the king s power It also made clear that the king was not above the law, the law himself Today, we call these ideas the fundamental principles of: 1 Limited Government 2 Rule of Law

The Virginia Company of London The picture shown to the left is a copy of the Charter of the Virginia Company of London This charter was first issued in England in 1601, and revised twice in later years You can think of a charter as a kind of business license It was given by King James I to a group of merchants in England who wanted to start a colony in Virginia Jamestown is named after King James In 1606 England was running well behind other major European countries in colonizing the New World Spain, Portugal, and France already had colonies England s attempts had all failed One attempt became known as the Lost Colony This charter was part of the king s plan to encourage English merchants to keep trying to establish colonies in America The charter made several important promises to settlers who would go to Virginia 1 Settlers could own land in the colony This was a big deal because most land in England was very expensive or already in use Ownership of land offered opportunity to improve one s life 2 Settlers could create a council to help make their own laws The council at Jamestown was called the House of Burgesses It began in 1619, making it the first elected lawmaking body in America The House of Burgesses is the direct ancestor of today s Virginia General Assembly, which meets each year in Richmond 3 Settlers would keep the same rights as any other Englishmen The early settlers sent to Jamestown by the Virginia Company of London faced a struggle just to survive The company itself went into debt and failed But the settlers still came, lured by the chance for success in Virginia Before long there were more English colonies a total of 13 in all England didn t interfere very much with the colonies in the early years But after about 1760, Great Britain started to tighten its control A huge conflict began when the British government created new tax laws like the Stamp Act (1765) Colonists objected because they had no representatives in the British Parliament where the new laws were being made In 1774 Virginia leaders protested that by forcing laws on the colonies, the British government was violating the promises made in the older Charter of the Virginia Company of London In 1775, after years of growing disputes and protests, actual fighting broke out in several places between British troops and the colonists In 1776 Virginia leaders meeting in Williamsburg were convinced that there was only one sure way to protect their rights; full independence! In May, 1776, Virginia broke away from British rule Virginia leaders urged the other colonies to do the same Leaders from all of colonies, meeting in Philadelphia, agreed with Virginia s stand The vote to adopt the Declaration of Independence came on July 4, 1776 So that old document signed by King James in the year 1606 the Charter of the Virginia Company of London turned out to be very important, indeed It promised the colonists would always keep all English rights and liberties, including the right to a voice in making their own laws To protect those rights, the colonists were willing to fight, and create a new nation

The Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence was adopted in a building in Philadelphia now called Independence Hall Colonial leaders met there in 1776 to deal with the growing crisis over British rule of the colonies Each of the 13 colonies sent delegates to the meeting Many leaders still hoped to reach a compromise with England, but that seemed less and less likely as the months went by In June, the delegates appointed a committee to write a statement in favor of independence Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer and political leader from Virginia was one of those chosen He became the main author of the document The longest part of the document is a list of complaints about the way the British government was treating the colonists! It claims King George III was deliberately trying to establish an absolute Tyranny over these States It lists many examples that colonial leaders felt were proof of his bad intentions The Declaration criticizes the British Parliament as well It points out the fact that taxes were put on the colonies by Parliament without the approval of the colonists own elected assemblies Colonists considered that an abuse of their rights as Englishmen The Declaration of Independence expressed the ideas of political equality, individual rights, the consent of the governed, and the right to change or even abolish an abusive government When the official vote for the Declaration of Independence was called on July 4 th, not a single colony voted against it The Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation was the first form of national government in the United States In a confederation, each of the states would keep its independence, but all would agree to work together on common concerns The Articles make it clear that the states would be supreme The national government would have very few powers The Articles helped hold the 13 states together during the Revolution But those years also revealed the major weakness of the Articles The plan gave Congress the power to make some decisions, but it did not give Congress the power to enforce its decisions For example, Congress had the power to make decisions about the war for independence Yet it could not tax, nor could it force the states to pay the funds needed by the American army That meant soldiers often went unpaid or without supplies The difficulty of governing the new nation became even more apparent after the Revolution Year after year, the states seemed less and less united As a result, a special meeting of delegates from the states was set up in 1787 to consider revising the Articles Instead of revising the Articles, they began creating a completely new design for the national government The new plan The United States Constitution was completed that summer

The Virginia Declaration of Rights Who was George Mason? He lived in Virginia His family lived in a house called in Northern Virginia Disputes with England: before, during, and after the American Revolution Gunston Hall located by the Potomac River When British tax laws like the Stamp Act caused growing anger in the colonies, Mason became well known for his arguments and writings in favor of the colonists rights Breaking Away and Creating a New Government: When Virginia leaders voted to break away from British rule completely, Mason set to work on a listing of basic principles of government and the rights of the citizens of Virginia Mason based his list partly on English laws and customs He also included the bold new ideas that were spreading in the colonies! All in Favor The document is known as the Virginia Declaration of Rights It is still part of Virginia s state constitution! Does it Really Matter? YES! George Mason s Virginia Declaration of Rights was also the model for the Bill of Rights, which became a part of the US Constitution in 1791 Remembering Mason: A bronze statue of George Mason holding in his hand the Virginia Declaration of Rights, can be seen at George Mason University, located in Fairfax, VA The US Constitution The Constitution is a written agreement that describes how the government the powers of different parts of the government, and also puts some limits government doesn t get out of control in America will operate It tells on those powers so the The Constitution is divided into a Preamble, or introduction, and seven Articles, or sections The Preamble tells the purpose or goals of the Constitution We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America Article 1 creates the US Congress law-making branch of the government and describes its powers and responsibilities It is the legislative, or Article 2 creates the office of president of the United States The president heads the executive branch of government, which is given the job of carrying out laws made by Congress

Article 3 creates the US Supreme Court This is part of the judicial branch of the US government It has the power to rule on important legal cases, especially those involving the Constitution itself Federalism in this type of system, the powers of government are shared between a national level and the state level National Level was responsible for: Policy foreign military System money laws dealing with trade across state lines State Level was responsible for: schools and public health safety laws criminal marriage laws and roads highways The Constitution created a national government with three branches The separations of powers would help avoid the risk of putting too much power in one place Each branch has the power to block unwise actions by the other branches This is the system known as checks and balances Article 4 tells how new states can join the United States Article 5 describes the procedure for amending the US Constitution Article 6 says the US Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land So laws cannot be made that go against the basic principles in the US Constitution, either by the state governments or by Congress Article 7 says that when the people of nine states ratify (officially approve) the new Constitution, it would take effect The approval of the Constitution, however, came only after much debate and discussion in all of the states One of the main objections was that it did not include a Bill of Rights To help win approval of the Constitution, supporters promised that such a listing would be created and added quickly The Bill of Rights was ratified as the first ten Amendments to the Constitution in 1791 As part of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights protects key rights such as: Freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly Fair, pubic trials No cruel or unusual punishments No unreasonable searches The right to bear arms The right to own property The Constitution is still the in Supreme Law of the Land the United States today Amendments to the Constitution over the past two centuries have abolished slavery, (the Amendment), assured women of the right to vote, (the 19 th Amendment), and addressed other important issues in American life The Constitution is still the supreme law of the land in the United States today 13 th